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Colleen
De Reuck Surprises, Captures U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials by Sam Grotewold
In the 25th mile of the 2003 USA Marathon Championships in St. Louis, marathon debutante Sara Wells overtook pre-race favorite Colleen De Reuck to win the national title in her first marathon ever. One year later—on the same course, and in more or less the same spot— De Reuck was involved in another lead change. This time, though, it was De Reuck blowing past overwhelming pre-race favorite Deena Kastor to win the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials—Women's Marathon and qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. De Reuck's win slapped the exclamation point on a strange and surprising Trials race. On a picture-perfect day, approximately 130 women started on the track at Washington University, where they completed the first mile on the same 400-meter oval that fittingly hosted the track and field events at the St. Louis Olympic Games 100 years ago. The top three finishers, providing they ran faster than the 2:37:00 Olympic "A" standard or had done so in a marathon since January 1, 2003, would make the Olympic team. Coming off the track, Massachusetts' Blake Russell had the early lead, accelerating away from the pack as they exited Francis Field stadium and headed toward the magnificent Forest Park. A blazing 5:05 second mile—faster than the second mile of the men's Olympic Marathon Trials in February—gave Russell a giant lead before most of the athletes had time to break a sweat. The University of North Carolina graduate continued to push the pace, extending her lead to 51 seconds by 3 miles and a full minute at 10K.
Kastor—the American record holder and fastest entrant in the Trials race by nearly seven minutes—made no secret before the start about her race strategy, but Russell's lead quickly forced Kastor to reconsider her plan. "I had hoped to stay with the pack through the first 13 miles, and make my move over the second half," Kastor explained afterwards, "but that went out the door when Blake started throwing down five minute miles." Kastor and Sylvia Mosqueda—seeking her first Olympic berth in her third Olympic Trials appearance—set out to run down Russell, the fourth-fastest qualifier in the race after her win at the Twin Cities Marathon in October. The pair worked together on bridging the gap for several miles before Kastor pulled ahead to chase Russell solo. Mosqueda would remain in the top five for much of the race, yet would eventually step off the course in the final miles. Farther ahead, Russell's fast start began to take its toll, and her pace slowed even though her form appeared to stay smooth and strong. Kastor continued to slice away at the lead, despite coming to a complete stop twice near halfway to get a rock out of her shoe. Both athletes worked valiantly—Russell to maintain her lead, Kastor to erase it—until the 18th mile, when Kastor took the front position for the first time. She quickly put 20 seconds on Russell, with the chase pack another half-minute behind.
Meanwhile, De Reuck, Mosqueda, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, and Jen Rhines—a 2000 Olympian who had fared badly in her first two marathons—strung out behind Russell, all still very much in the hunt for the third Olympic team spot. De Reuck—a three-time Olympian for South Africa before gaining U.S. citizenship in 2000—was the first to pull away, swallowing Russell and setting her sights on Kastor as the group began its final loop inside Forest Park. "I just wanted to run my pace," De Reuck said afterward. "When I pulled into the top three, I told myself 'You're on the Olympic Team, just hold this place.' I didn't really think that I could catch Deena, but I was in the top three, and that was my goal." Kastor, however, was slowing noticeably, even as De Reuck hacked away at her lead. With three miles remaining, Kastor was visibly struggling, and nervous about what was unfolding behind her. "I probably looked over my shoulder 12 times in those last three miles," she said, "hoping that nobody was coming up behind me." De Reuck was coming, though, erasing a 25-second deficit in a span of just over one mile. On the fourth and final time up the Wells Drive Hill, De Reuck overtook Kastor for good, looking as fresh as she had in her pre-race warm-ups. "I was surprised," De Reuck said. "I said before I thought the only way Deena wouldn't win was if a dog ran out on the course and grabbed on to her leg. But I've run in lots of marathons, and I know that anything can happen."
De Reuck—who will turn 40 on April 13, and will be the oldest athlete to ever represent the United States in an Olympic Marathon—pressed on to win in 2:28:25, the fastest time ever run in a U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials race. Kastor, who would later admit that her late race troubles were caused by insufficient pre-race fueling, held on to second place, qualifying for her second Olympic Games after first making the 10,000-meter team in 2000. Rhines—also a member of that 2000 Olympics 10,000-meter team—finally ran the marathon she knew she was capable of, passing Russell in the final quarter mile and finishing third in 2:29:57, a personal best by more than 11 minutes. Russell's fourth-place finish was a personal best 2:30:32, with Lewy Boulet's 2:30:50, also a personal best, rounding out the top five. Despite not winning the race that she'd been expected to dominate, Kastor was philosophical after her finish. "Athletes learn from every race, whether we win or lose," she said. "I'll take this and hopefully learn from it and grow with it. Now we can go back and look at what went wrong, and correct those problems before the Olympic Games this summer." Indeed, Kastor's sentiment nailed it: the marathon is a journey much longer than its 26 miles, 385 yards. It is a lesson that we can learn from in as many ways as we are capable of looking at it. It's fitting that in St. Louis—the city that 150 years ago was one of the final stops on the long journey toward California, the city that to this day still calls itself "the Gateway to the West"—was today the gateway to a journey toward another distant and even mythical destination—the Athens Olympic Games. Sam Grotewold is the Web editor of New York Road Runners New York Road Runners will interview Deena Kastor live on this site on Tuesday, April 6, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Please visit this site after 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday to hear this exclusive live interview.
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